The Arising

Giclée on Canvas

10.5" x 18" | 21" x 36" | 28" x 48"

This whimsical piece came about after a number of intersecting thoughts occurred to me, which accounts for the multiple meanings in the title of this piece.
When I was 14 years old I read John Wyndham's sci-fi novel called The Day of the Triffids, essentially a tale about how large, predatory and mobile plants are able to take over the world. For some reason I imagined these plants as sunflowers and I have always found them to be somewhat daunting and creepy. In Oregon, I once grew dozens of the giant variety to be 8 feet high and would have great fun chasing and losing the dogs amongst them. Also, like many people, I would imagine the flowers tracking the sun across the sky during the day, and I wondered what on earth would happen if 2 suns were to appear in the sky. What would happen to the sun-loving flowers? Which way would they turn? Maybe a rabbit sitting on a log would have the answer?
(By the way, it is a misconception that sunflowers track the sun (heliotropism), they mostly face and position themselves to the east. Also, the supposed discovery of Planet X, or another sun appearing in our solar system is a story going around online but probably not true and may be related to recent movies on the subject.) - Robert Bissell